The Gensokyo Meteor Crisis: A Gatekeeper's Lament
by Darwise
Summary: Touhou/Final Fantasy crossover. After being forced out of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Meiling Hong, ex-gate guard, Applies for a job at the Shinra Company. In a world that doesn't believe in magic or youkai, how will she fit in? Being Re-written, not dead!
1. Prologue, Meiling's Lucky Break!

EDIT: VespaRiderXephon-01 made a good call with the name placement; so I changed the order accordingly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Touhou, Hong Meiling, Final Fantasy 7, or any other characters or franchises mentioned in this story.

* * *

Tseng slumped in his office chair for what he felt was an unnecessary amount of time, stunned and highly annoyed by the claims being made by the woman who looked no older than twenty-two sitting in front of his desk.

Yet this woman sat, with a neutral smile on her face, hands folded neatly on top of the green beret resting on her lap, with an air of seriousness that he normally would have found invigorating, if the contents of this application weren't so… odd. Checking the documents over again, he pursed his lips and began to speak.

"So let me make sure that I understand this properly. You're saying not only that you have a clean drug record, but that you know thirty-six forms of hand to hand combat, and can stand for days on end, along with your claim that you have over _seventy-five_ years of experience in your previous field of work?"

"Yes sir." She replied, smoothing the wrinkles out of her green colored Chinese style slit dress without missing a single beat. "I can also provide a contact address if you would like it."

Letting a smirk form on his features, he balked at the sheer audacity of what was going on, but decided to humor her one more time just to see if she would crack.

"Please."

The woman's bright blue eyes sprang to life, and he chuckled inwardly.

_"That girl really thinks she's going to get in!"_

"Okay. The address is: 238 Scarlet Devil Mansion, Gensokyo, area code 112…"

Tseng had to admit, she had guts for getting this far in her little prank without getting nervous, but his patience was wearing thin, regardless of the thought put into it, a prank was a prank, and besides…

"You can't just expect to make a mockery out of the Turks and expect to get off Scott free." He let his palm slam against the hard wood table to help punctuate the last two words of his sentence. The woman jumped an inch out of the chair and let out a small squeak; more out of surprise than fear.

"B-B-But I'm not making this up sir…" she paused, made a thoughtful expression, then continued.

"I know! If you need a contact reference, I could always ask Patchouli-sama."

She ferverently nodded, making the long locks of red hair that flowed down her back bounce as she did.

Tseng stood silent, deciding to let his next course of action hinge on the next few responses. Taking deep breath, he slowly reached his hand towards the little red buzzer underneath his desk.

"And what form of work does this Miss Patchouli do?"

"She's the librarian, and one of the senior residents of the mansion."

The hand stopped.

"I see."

"Oh! And she's also one of the best magician's I've ever met!"

Tseng gave her a friendly smile, all the while mashing the buzzer like a madman. After a couple of seconds passed, two figures in dark suits similar to his enter the room before coming to stand directly behind the woman.

"Rude, Reno, please get this woman out of my sight, before I do something that I might regret."

Tseng watched as the woman came to a slow realization of what had just happened, and met his eyes; not with the fear that he had expected, but rather with a look of disappointment.

She quickly rose from her seat before anyone could react, and strode out of the small office. Tseng let out a light gasp and stared on in a slight stupor, not because of how serious she had been about her claims…

But rather at how easily she had flung Rude aside on her way out.

* * *

Hong Meiling sighed loudly as she rode down the glass elevator. This was the fourteenth job that turned her down this week. After being fired from the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she had decided to leave Gensokyo and find a new place to live, but the one thing she hadn't counted on was that most people in the outside world didn't know things like vampires or magic, actually existed.

Things looked really bleak for her right now; she had been living on the road for a couple of months and had no home to call her own. Having to kill and cook her own food she could deal with, it was the fact that she had to bathe in the dirty water of the Midgar slums that made her proactively search for another job, and by the way things had been proceeding, she would probably be out of work for another month or two…

BANG!

The glass window shattering and the bullet that just barely grazed her right forearm had broken her out of her reminiscing, and she quickly sprung into action. Having been a gate guard for so long she could tell which direction a bullet came from just from hearing it whiz by; she peered over the side of the elevator, and into the parking lot below.

A young blond man in a white coat appeared to be wrestling a man in a strange blue uniform (not unlike the ones she saw the employees wearing) for a gun. Backing up against the elevator door to give her some space, Hong ran forward and leapt from the platform currently on the 32 floor.

* * *

Rufus Shinra was going to _kill_ Tseng the next time he saw him. Not only had he left the font desk abandoned, but he at sometime or another, actually _hired _the man who currently had a gun to his head. This wouldn't be the first time something of this nature happened. Ever since the meteor crisis came to a close, family members of victims, disgruntled employees, and everyone else that had been wronged by the company he owned all wanted a piece of him. Rufus spoke clearly, and in a low voice, so as to mask his rising fear.

"You do realize that you aren't going to get away with this, right?"

The man said nothing, but inhaled sharply, loosening his grip on the gun. Rufus saw his chance, and took it. He spun around, and grabbed the man's wrist, attempting to empty the clip before he could use it. He did not count on the gun being empty.

The man, with his free hand, punched the president in the face, using his dazed state to quickly retrieve a loaded pistol from his side pocket, accidentally shooting it off in the air as he fumbled with the safety. Rufus quickly reached for the gun again, but was caught in the lower abdomen with a swift stab from a concealed knife.

Dropping to his knees, Rufus gasped for breath, as the man pressed the muzzle of his gun to his temple. He smirked seeing that Rufus' eyes were wide with disbelief; what he didn't notice was that his attention wasn't on his gun, but rather at the woman plunging from at least thirty stories right behind him.

Hong groaned lightly as she landed on her feet with a sickening crunch of glass, and steel. While the car had broken her fall, it had also compromised her stealth. The assailant quickly turned around, firing off two shots that she easily dodged as she ran towards him. The next bullet tore through the small gold plated star that decorated her favorite beret, ruining it permanently.

She gave loud yell as she charged towards him.

Rufus watched in amazement as her foot came in contact with the man's leg, sweeping him off the ground, following it up by grabbing his arms and swinging him with an unnatural amount of force and speed straight into his prized limo, breaking two doors instantly. She looked at the damage done and decided that he wouldn't be getting up for a while. Rufus tensed slightly as she made her way over to where he lay on the ground.

"Um… I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble, you looked like you could use some help."

She spoke softly, holding out her hand to help him up. Rufus took this moment to think about what had just occurred, and came to the conclusion that if she wanted to kill him, she would have done so already. He grasped her hand, wincing from his injuries as she quickly pulled him off the ground.

"What is your name miss?"

"Hong Meiling, sir."

"Call me Rufus." The two began a slow walk towards the main building.

"By the way, what were you doing here?"

Hong slumped her shoulders, letting out a small grunt before replying.

"Getting turned down from a job. I thought the Turks would take me for sure too…"

Try as he might, Rufus couldn't control the smile beginning to form on his face.

"Oh, I think they can make an exception for you."

* * *

Later that night, Reno had gone out to his favorite drinking spot in the wall market by himself. His partner Rude had sprained his ankle after taking a tumble earlier, and had gone straight home after his shift.

After downing two bottles of wine, he slowly stumbled to the church where he would take a nap since he was too drunk to drive. Sobering up for a minute, he realized that the normally closed doors were slightly ajar.

Switching his electro-rod on, he slowly stepped inside and surveyed his surroundings. The first thing to strike him as "out of place" was the small green thermos sitting by the bench nearest to the door. Had someone been living here?

Reno's suspicion had been confirmed as he saw a woman wearing a simple cotton nightgown walking in from the back door of the church, stopping to put her day clothes neatly on the floor, and then walking over to a small blanket laid out on the floor.

It took him a moment to place her face back to today's fiasco in the office. Sure, he thought she might have had some screws loose, but he never expected her to be living in conditions like this.

Tucking his weapon away, he walked towards the woman, hoping to find out a little more about her.

* * *

Hong sat down on a bench inside of the small abandoned church near sector six; humming a random tune as she made herself comfortable for the night.

Recalling the day's events in her mind, she sighed contently as she sipped from a small thermos filled with tea, letting her mind wander as she spoke out loud to no one in general.

"I really should have asked Patchouli-sama for her book of flavored tea recipes before I left…"

Setting her tea down, Hong reached underneath the bench, into a small rucksack, pulled out a purple pillow and blanket, and set it over a small patch of grass growing over the floorboards. As she prepared herself for sleep, a male voice broke the peaceful silence.

"What are you doing here?"

* * *

A few minutes of silence passed as Reno waited for an answer, watching as she turned around to address him. She made no attempt to hide the irritation in her voice.

"Well, I was going to go to sleep, but then you walked in."

"Well I need to crash here too, don't mind me."

She sniffed the air and then scrunched up her face, then walked over to the thermos. Reno studied her figure as she bent over to pick it up; judging by the small size, that gown was obviously a hand me down, and it wouldn't be long before he got himself a nice view of cleavage.

However, a few seconds before he could get his money shot, she turned her head around sharply, gave Reno a dirty look, and then retrieved the thermos from the bench faster than his eyes could process.

"You really shouldn't drink so much. I can smell the alcohol on you all the way from here"

Reno turned around, rubbed the back of his head, and smiled to himself.

Not only was she cute, but she was pretty damn sharp.

She thrust the thermos into his hand, before sitting on the bench. Reno unscrewed the top and gazed at the contents; he could faintly see a purple tint to the water, along with what looked like small leaves. He eyed the drink warily until the woman spoke up.

"Drink it. It should clear up any fuzziness you're feeling. Gets rid of the smell too."

Reno took a small sip, and much to his surprise, found that it tasted much better than he had expected, then poured the rest of the liquid down his throat. He blinked in surprise when he noticed, that not only was his lightheadedness gone, but his buzz was better than usual; Heck he hadn't felt this good since he'd won the jackpot at the chocobo races.

"Whoa. I don't know what you put in that stuff, but it beats out any other drink I've ever had. Thanks."

Her head was lowered so as to avoid making eye contact.

"Will you leave now? I really don't feel like being bothered."

Reno sat down on the bench, making himself comfortable, and cementing the fact that he wasn't leaving anytime soon.

"What? Something wrong? Wanna talk about it? I won't force you; but it's just that you look like you could use a friend."

* * *

Hong was quite taken back by the man's concern. It certainly wasn't the first time a human took an interest in her, but most didn't stick around after she started talking about life in Gensokyo, mistaking her for a crazy person.

Her desire for friendship quickly overcame her fear of rejection as she smiled, holding her hand out.

"You haven't even told me your name."

The man ran a hand through his cherry locks of hair before grasping her hand in return, and shaking it.

"Reno."

"Hong Meiling. Nice to meet you."

"Hong Meiling huh? Heh. That's quite the mouthful. So what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?"

She let out a small snort, deciding to ignore the little jibe he made about her name.

"I live here."

Reno slapped his palm on his forehead and sighed.

"That's not exactly what I meant. You're obviously not from around here." He smirked and waggled his finger before continuing. "I bet you don't even know what a gil is!"

her eyes once again met the floor in embarrassment.

"You don't have to rub it in…"

Reno's smirk quickly became a look of concern.

"What? I was just kidding. You're not serious… right?" When she didn't reply he slid closer towards her, forcing eye contact.

"Hey look, I can't make any promises, but I'm gonna have a talk with some folks I know, and see if I can get you a place to stay." He paused, taking out a small phone and punching in a number before he continued.

"You might have done a number on my partner earlier today, but the monsters out here won't just let you push em' around. Hold on a sec, hey Denzel, is Tifa home?"

As she fell asleep while Reno carried on with his phone call, Hong smiled feeling that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

On the top floor of the Shinra building, the company president was engaged in a phone conversation of his own; this conversation however, was far more heated.

_"Sir, I think you should reconsider what you're saying."_

"I have given it plenty of thought, and I feel that she is more than a suitable candidate."

_"Sir, despite the circumstances, I do not think she is of sound mind. As head of the Turks, I can't simply sign a person on, knowing they might be potentially dangerous."_

"If you had done your job properly, I would not have these seven stitches right now. You should be happy that I'm not demoting you."

_"Rufus, she may have saved your life, but there is seriously something wrong with the woman's psyche! She believes that she's a youkai; A monster out of a Wutainese fairytale Rufus!"_

"I don't recall giving you permission to address me by my first name, Tseng."

_"My apologies sir, but I don't remember you ever being this reckless."_

"And I don't ever remember you ever being this insubordinate! You work for me, and I will be spoken to with respect!"

_"How can you be so cold Rufus? Don't you care about Elena at all?"_

"Regardless of your personal feelings Tseng, the Turks are short-handed and require all the new recruits we can hire. I want Miss Meiling working here by the end of the week, and that is final."

Tseng slammed the phone onto the receiver, clearly upset with the choices of the president. Three months after being sent on a recon mission to a newly discovered island off the coast of Wutai, Elena had been reported as missing in action. Not only did the Wutainese Emperor Godo, deny any involvement in her disappearance, but cut off all ties with the mainland immediately afterwards.

What had bothered Tseng the most was the fact that no search party was ever formed and all requests made for one, denied. Rapping his finger against his desk, He stared out the glass window of his office, and down at the partially rebuilt Midgar. The meteor crisis may have ended five years ago, yet Tseng couldn't shake the feeling that a storm of change was brewing.

What's worse; he felt that somehow, that 'youkai' woman would wind up at the center of it all.

* * *

OMAKE

Fairy#1: Hey… where did all the other chapters go? Weren't there like six?

Fairy#2: Gasp! You don't think the author's giving up on us… do you?

Sakuya: Ah. I can answer that. You see… After much thought, the author has decided to focus on Meiling's story arc for now, as he had initially intended.

Cirno: But I want my screen time!

Sakuya: Not to worry! He has personally assured me that once the story catches speed again, he will reintroduce our story plots; but for now… It's China's show.

Hong: I'm standing right here you know…


	2. Getting Properly Aquainted

Disclaimer: I do not own Touhou, Hong Meiling, Final Fantasy 7, or any other characters or franchises mentioned in this story.

* * *

"Mei! It's okay if I call you that, right? It's time to get up. We're here."

When Hong came to her senses, she realized that she wasn't sitting on the church bench anymore, but in the front seat of a moving vehicle. Turning to her left, she saw that whoever had abducted her was polite enough to leave her belongings with her.

She gave a slight yelp when the car came to an abrupt stop, falling violently onto the carpeted interior.

She hadn't noticed the person sitting to next to her, until he started to snicker. Tilting her head from the floor, she came face to face with a rather sheepish looking Reno.

"Heh. Sorry 'bout that. I was so beat after carrying you in here; I must have forgotten to buckle you up! So, Mei, I got a call from my boss while you were sleeping; says he wants you to come in to work after you get settled in at your new digs."

Her mind did a double take as she recalled what had happened last night. Pulling herself off of the floor, Hong frowned at him.

"Thank you for your kindness, but my name is Hong Meiling ; please don't call me Mei, or any other weird nicknames…"

"Sure thing, Meiling… hey, that rhymes!"

(Sigh)

She watched as Reno got up and put his hand on a small knob on the door. He turned towards her, and gave smirk very similar to the one she gave him last night.

"Well if we're gonna work together then get used to it, cause there is no way you expect me to say all of that every time I talk to you!"

* * *

"Tifa, why are we doing this again?"

"Because the house is big and lonely as it is; and I could always us another bartender to help me out on the weekends."

"But still… one of Reno's friends? Are you sure you want that kind of person working here?"

"Cloud! Reno paid out of his own pocket to help out with the supply restocking; we owe him."

Cloud grunted a sound of disapproval as he sat on the steps of Seventh Heaven.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Tifa was right; with the steady increase of construction workers being hired for the Midgar Restoration Project, (MRP) the bar had seen an enormous increase in business.

After having to turn customers away because of over crowdedness, Tifa had the entire house and bar renovated, leaving them not only with a larger amount of customers, but an under stocked workforce as well.

He helped whenever he could, but was often busy with his own delivery service himself. Yuffie was actually the only hired help to the bar's name, and while she was able to serve the customers faster than anyone else, there was still only one person on hand to fix the drinks.

They didn't need a little help; they needed all the help they could get.

Cloud watched as a black Shinra executive limousine rolled down the path leading towards the bar.

"Looks like they're here…"

* * *

"Wait a minute… if your first name is Hong, then why do I have to call you by your last name!?"

"Because I just met you."

"What are you, Wutainese or something? They're the only ones who do that anymore."

"What? No! I'm Chinese!"

"Right… now you're telling me that fancy dinner plates have their own ethnicity?"

"That's not funny Reno!"

"You know what? Since you want to act so stubborn about your name, I'm gonna call you Meiling every time I talk to you, is that okay?"

"That's what I asked for in the first place!"

* * *

Cloud watched the two people argue as they made their way towards him, he let out a small breath he never noticed he was holding. Reno didn't mention that his friend was a woman, and that fact had certainly put his mind at ease; at least he wouldn't have to worry about someone other than the bar patrons hitting on Tifa.

As he studied the woman's physique, Cloud found himself quite impressed. Judging by the angle she kept her feet pointed in when she walked, and by the way she struck Reno's sternum when he christened her "China", he determined that she was either a well seasoned traveler with a few kills under her belt, or a martial artist of some sort. Either way she was definitely a fighter.

"Guess this won't be as much of a hassle as I thought…"

* * *

Reno rubbed the spot on his chest from where Meiling had given him a good punch. He had always been good at figuring out how to push people's buttons, and had quickly deciphered that she was rather fickle about her name; his best guess was that there was some importance behind it, but in the interest of his health, he decided not to push it any further for the moment.

"Yo Cloud, Teef; this is Hong Meiling, the friend I was talkin about. Think you can spare a room?"

He watched as cloud gave her an analyzing glance before shrugging his shoulders, and heading inside.

"It's up to Tifa."

Reno chuckled lightly as Hong shivered from Cloud's indifferent reception. He bent over and whispered in her ear as Tifa approached them.

"Psst! Don't worry bout spiky there… he's like that with everybody. I'm sure you'll get along with them fine."

* * *

Tifa found herself quite surprised that Reno kept company like this. According to his phone call, she was a homeless person that had a pending job at Shinra and needed a place to stay. She certainly didn't look like a bum, or smell like one for that matter.

"Hello Miss Meiling, Reno tells me that you've been down on your luck."

Brown eyes met blue, and Tifa sensed something that she hadn't felt from anyone other than herself for a long time.

A Chi signature.

She had been certain Meiling had sensed hers as well because she had unconsciously narrowed her eyes before quickly composing herself, and continuing the conversation.

"I guess you could say that. I've been on the road for some time now."

"Really? Then I bet you have some interesting stories to tell."

Hong scratched at the back of her head.

"Nah… I just followed the trail from my old place for a few months, and well, here I am!"

"So just where are you from?"

* * *

Hong was no stranger to the teachings of Chi; one of the most fundamental facts being that all living things contain it.

The second being that a person's Chi changes as one progresses through life.

The third, that by training your body and mind through hard work and life experiences, your Chi signature can stand out against that of a regular person's.

She had been taught by one of her old masters to recognize a strong opponent by the aura that their Chi gave off.

Imagine the surprise she felt when she noticed the Chi signature that nearly dwarfed her own in strength, belonged to no other than the woman that would be taking her in.

Her first impulse as a fighter had been to assume the challengers stance, but taking into account that first impressions meant the most, she decided to continue the discussion.

When the subject of previous housing came up, Reno had quickly stepped in and made up a lie about living in lower Junon, which had turned into a friendly discussion between the two. She saw Cloud standing by the doorway, gesturing with his hand for her to come inside.

"They're probably going to talk out there for a couple of hours; I figured you might want to unpack."

She smiled, then followed him inside. Despite being a little creepy, Cloud might not be as bad as he looked.

* * *

Cloud pointed towards the stairs then looked back at Hong.

"You're room is the first door on the right. The other two belong to Denzel and Marlene."

He saw the questioning look on her face, and then quickly explained.

"They're kids that live with us. Marlene is the daughter of a family friend, and Denzel is..."

"Oh its okay, I wasn't wondering about that, I was just thinking about some things is all."

Cloud shrugged and walked towards the bar area, and sat down by the counter for a drink when he realized that Tifa was still outside talking to Reno.

Slightly annoyed at the lack of a bartender, he got back up and headed for the kitchen; settling for a bottled drink from the fridge. He nearly dropped the bottle from surprise when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Turning around, he was greeted with a mug of teal liquid.

"You looked kind of thirsty, so I poured you some of the stuff behind the counter. I mixed some of my herbal tea in there, so you probably won't get as much of a lift as normal drinks give you, but it tastes pretty good."

Cloud looked at the drink and then back at Hong before taking the mug in his hands.

"Can I ask you a question?"

She made a face similar to the one she made when he spoke about Denzel and Marlene; a mix of both surprise and caution.

"Umm… okay, what's the question?"

"Where did you learn to walk so quietly? The only people I've ever met who could do that were all first class SOLDIER's."

He took a small sip as he waited for an answer; letting the mug's contents sit on his tounge before swallowing. Cloud watched as she slowly fumbled words for an answer.

"Well… er… I was… umm…"

* * *

"I was a gate guard."

"A gate guard huh? Not too many guards can sneak around like that."

"You'd be surprised what you can pick up with enough years…"

"Sounds like you didn't care for it too much."

"It had its good days."

"Then why did you leave?"

Hong walked back towards the bar and fished around for another mug, taking a small flask from out of her hip pocket, and pouring the last of her tea into it.

Finishing the last of the tea in one gulp, she set the mug back down before giving a reply to Cloud; a slight air of melancholy emanating from her words.

"Things happen, people change, you know how it is."

"Trouble with your co-workers?"

Despite herself, she couldn't help but chuckle at just how right he was.

"Something like that."

* * *

"I think I'm going to retire for today. I really can't thank you enough for what you are doing."

"Don't mention it. You take it easy now."

Cloud watched Tifa's smile fade as Hong walked up the stairs.

"When did you walk in?"

"When Reno left."

"I see."

He knew that he probably should have left well enough alone, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"You don't like her, do you?"

She frowned before giving him an answer.

"No… that's not it; It's just that, well… what do you see when you look at her?"

"A very humble woman. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"She doesn't give you a weird vibe at all?"

Cloud stood up from his bar stool, handing her the half drunken mix of tea and beer. She stared at him with a puzzled look on her face.

"I can tell that there's something she's not telling us, but I can respect the fact that she may not wish to share her private life with us."

He let the meaning behind his words sink in before continuing.

"I'm not going to pry, and neither should you."

"Yeah… I guess you're right."

"She's also pretty good behind the bar."

Cloud smiled faintly as Tifa took a swig of the concoction. Setting the mug down; she wiped her face before leaning into his shoulder in a warm embrace."

"Hey cloud."

"Hmm?"

"When did you become such a softie?"

"Dunno. Maybe you're just rubbing off on me."

They both chuckled lightly before their lips met.


	3. A Strange Power Play!

Disclaimer: I do not own Touhou, Hong Meiling, Final Fantasy 7, or any other characters or franchises mentioned in this story.

* * *

In the stairway between the first and second floors of the Shinra building, two figures stepped out of a small portal, and sat on the steps to get their bearings. Vincent Valentine sat on the steps holding a mastered enemy skill materia before placing it into the slot in his Cerberus.

The woman who sat abreast of him had watched him briefly with interest before going back to eating her sandwich; taking care to push her wavy pink hair out of the way, she took two large bites before chewing.

The lack of concern that she showed for the task at hand irked him to no end. Standing up; he held a hand out for the woman to help her up. Her maroon eyes flickered from his hand and back to her sandwich; before breaking off a small piece and placing it in his hand.

"Silly! If you wanted some, all you had to do was ask!"

Vincent face palmed before turning to walk up the stairs; he could hear the audible sound of smacking as he passed each floor. He let a small growl before breaking the near silence.

"Miss Saigyouji, this is a mission that requires stealth. If you cannot keep yourself quiet, please wait for me outside."

She brushed the crumbs off of her blue kimono before shaking her head in response.

"No can (munch) do Vinnie."

"It's Vincent."

"I'll call (smack) you Vincent if (smack) you call me Yuyuko."

After finishing the last of her sandwich, she pulled the white and red fold from her blue hat to use as a napkin. Putting it back in place, she began to walk in pace with Vincent.

"The power of border manipulation is a very dangerous thing. My friend lent you her power because she trusts you; I'm only here to make sure you don't do anything reckless with it."

Vincent stopped to face Yuyuko; if there was one thing he truly disliked, it was someone that questioned his competence. Using his most intimidating glare, he spoke in a low voice that challenged her to say anything back.

"…And if I do?"

"Well, I'd just have to kill you now wouldn't I?"

She stared at him with a serene smile that, despite all the monsters and demons he had faced in life, unnerved him greatly.

"Well Vinnie, there's no point in standing around, there going to be here soon, so let's get going."

Feeling slightly humbled, Vincent continued to walk in silence as Yuyuko trailed behind him.

Discretion is after all, the better part of valor.

* * *

"And… Begin!"

Rude watched from the monitor room with his superior, as Hong dashed through a long gray corridor; taking care not to activate any of the traps hidden in the training course. She flipped into the air as turned a corner, and hurled three throwing knives into each the training robots before any could retaliate.

"You have to admit it Tseng, she is good."

"I do have eyes Rude."

She gracefully leapt over the pit of spikes, and forced the robot waiting for her at the other side, into the hole with a spinning back kick.

"Then why all the distrust?"

"You were there when I ran a background check on her; she wasn't in the system. We do not need a repeat of what happened the other day; so until we have her on file, she will simply complete the standard training."

"You should give her the benefit of the doubt, plus, the boss is already taking care of her citizenship. We talked about it yesterday, remember? This isn't even basic traning."

"…"

Rude checked his watch, and let out a low whistle.

"It's only been a minute, and she's already halfway through. Wasn't your time around three minutes?"

"Rude?"

"Hm?"

"I really do prefer the quiet you over the talkative you."

Taking the hint, he quietly went back to watching the screen, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off today.

* * *

A small ringing noise signaled the end of the test. Hong watched the gray walls fade away to reveal the small black chamber that she had originally stepped into when she first begun the session. A monotone female voice sounded through the room that nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"TRIAL COMPLETE. PLEASE STEP OUT OF THE TRANING AREA."

Hong walked out of the chamber, and into a fancy looking room with a large square table in the middle surrounded by chairs. She made her way to the end of a line formed by the rest of what she guessed were new recruits.

The man who had done her interview yesterday, walked past each trainee while calling out a number.

"Seth Matthews, thirty-five points. Nal Roman, twenty-nine. I'm afraid you two aren't what were looking for in new Turk material. Dismissed."

The young men lowered their heads in shame and walked out of the room, followed by another recruit, and another, and yet another; until the only person left in line was herself, and a woman in the blue combat fatigues and strange helmets she had seen others wearing around the building.

Both came to attention as the man's stern gaze hardened; it was time for the moment of truth.

* * *

"Abanu Gendou, ninety-one. Hong Meiling, ninety-three. You both possess exemplary combat skills; I do believe there may be a future here for the two of you in Shinra."

He gave them both a glance of satisfaction; handing them each a glass of water from a tray that sat on the large desk behind him.

"My name is Tseng, and I am head of the Turks; we are the spearhead of the Shinra's Espionage Division, thus we can only demand nothing but perfection from our new young hopefuls. You have completed the first step to becoming a Turk, but it will be quite some time before you two will be able to wear this suit. But for now, you should both be proud of what you have accomplished."

He lifted a glass in the air to propose a toast. A clink of two glasses was the only sound heard in the soundproof room. His face became grim as they drank, only he had noticed his partner enter from the side door; a short nod signaling that they were ready to begin the operation.

Taking a short breath, he drew a pistol from his pocket, then continued.

"Before I assign either of you to a unit, I must make sure that you understand the scope of what it means to be a Turk, and exactly what is expected of you."

All eyes on the room were on the gun is his hand; each of the three pairs conveying the same mix of anxiousness as the other. He set it on the table between Abanu and Hong.

"The first and most important aspect of being a Turk is your loyalty not only to the company that hires you, but to your comrades in arms. The second…"

Abanu began to convulse violently before falling on both knees and retching.

"…Is to always be on your guard."

* * *

Hong quickly came to stand at her fellow recruit's side; wrapping an arm around her to keep her stable. Her body had two more spasms before she went slack, and closed her eyes.

"What did you do?!"

"I had that fellow over there cast a bio spell in those drinks to incapacitate both yourself, and Miss Gendou… although it did affect her nervous system a lot faster than I had anticipated; starting now, you each have exactly twenty minutes left to live."

A sharp pain jabbed at Hong's chest area then began to spread throughout her body; the previous feeling of nausea returned with a vengeance. She let Abanu's body fall gently to the floor as she clutched at her stomach.

"Rest assured there's an antidote in my shirt pocket which I am quite willing to share with you, provided you can perform a simple task for me. Tell me where the president is, or your life will end sooner than hers."

"I-I don't know who you're talking about."

She watched as Tseng pulled back on the top of a strange device that he held in his hand; making a loud clacking sound as it snapped back into place.

"I'll ask you one last time, where is Rufus?"

Silence.

He kneeled down in front of her with the front end of the object pointed towards her forehead. She looked at the object with a quizzical look on her face.

"What? You've never seen a gun before? Heh. Well, I suppose I could give you a demonstration."

* * *

"And… that's the last of the bags. Thanks for helping me shop Teef."

Tifa slammed the trunk of the convertible car as Reno panted in mock exhaustion.

"It's no problem, but I still don't know why we didn't ask Tseng to help... he's off today, right?"

She opened the passenger side to sit down when she noticed that Reno stood frozen by the door; his face bearing the look of a man who had just discovered a time bomb.

"Teef…"

A pause.

"Yes?"

She noticed the slight trembling in his breath; whatever he was thinking about couldn't have been anything pleasant.

"Tseng called you today?"

"Well… this morning, he called about meeting up later today with us after he takes care of some errands for his mother."

* * *

Tires screeched, and the car came to life with a powerful lunge. Before she could open her mouth in protest, Reno shoved a pair of studded gloves into Tifa's lap with his one free hand.

"Put those on; things are probably gonna get a little hairy soon."

He pressed a small button on the dashboard, and waited until a dial tone could be heard.

"Call Rude. Emergency line."

"Reno what's going on?! Why are we driving so fast?"

He ignored the yelling from his passenger and listened intently for the sign. One ring... two rings… Three…

"Reno!"

The fourth ring was replaced with a beeping sound that made him curse. Not only had Rude received his emergency signal, he was responding with one of his own.

"Reno answer me!"

As the Shinra building came into view, Reno finally responded to Tifa's inquiry.

"Teef… I'm the only one off today. Tseng never takes the day off; in fact, he was supposed to be running the new recruits through the gauntlet with Rude. And Tseng never talks about his family, even to us."

He turned towards her face to drive the next point home.

"Whoever called you today couldn't have been Tseng."

* * *

The sedatives that the imposter had injected Rude with hadn't been enough to completely put him out, but had left him numb in everyplace he could think of; it had taken him fifteen minutes alone to muster the strength to trip the emergency transmitter on his belt loop.

He let his hands fall slack against the restraints that tied him to the chair in the observation room; he concentrated all his energy on keeping his eyes open to watch the situation unfolding on the monitors in front of him. His heart fell heavy as Meiling collapsed to the floor following a bullet to her chest.

He only hoped that Reno could make it in time before things got any worse.

* * *

"Hey Vougan, You done yet? She's dead right?"

"Yeah. Shame she didn't answer, that one had some real talent."

"Whatever. The President's not here, but it wasn't a complete bust; we've looted more than enough mastered materia to compensate. Where's the extraction point?"

"Old sector seven; we'll take the company limo to the wall market, then move by sewer. How is the retrieval of the other targets coming along?"

"Not here, anyone could be listening! Our Lady would kill us if someone got wind of anything."

"You worry too much Seth; I've already dealt with of the cameras, as well as anyone that could be listening in. it's nothing more than an isolated incident."

"No leads, but according to intel, there were sightings of a border fluctuation followed by an extremely bright light yesterday over Mount Nibel. I wouldn't be surprised if the maiden and her little friend were involved."

"And what of the missing gatekeeper?"

"What _about_ her?"

"No one's really bothered to track her movements, and we have no photos to go by, so she could be anywhere right now."

"She's a top priority target, and you're telling me that you aren't looking for her? I believe Our Lady was very clear about the price of failure."

"Whatever man. I've heard a lot of things about her, and it really doesn't seem like she poses a threat to us anyway. If we find her, we'll get her; it's that simple. The only thing we have to go on is her name; I think it was China or something. Hey… did that body just twitch?!"

"Just your imagination. We should pull back for now; the stakes will only escalate from here. You shall maintain you disguise for the time being Seth, there might be other times when we may need to pay this building a visit. Following this event, they will probably increase the security twofold; if you are discovered, say nothing to compromise our goal."

"I'll do my best sir."

"Good. Then I shall take my leave. I leave the rest to you."

* * *

A moment after the intruders left, Hong pushed herself off of the floor; while her body had managed to nullify the poison, the bullet lodged in her chest begun had take it's toll on her stamina. To slow the bleeding, she tore off the lower sash of her dress and wrapped it around the wound.

The conversation that she overheard gave her a decent sense of where they might have been headed, but before she could do anything, she would have to take care of her fellow recruit. Lifting the unconscious woman onto her right shoulder; she made her way towards the nearest elevator in search of someone who could provide medical attention.

Pushing the button to the first floor, she set Abanu down then positioned herself on the opposite side of the elevator. As the lift slowed down and the doors opened, Hong peeked her head out to see if the coast was clear.

A deafening noise from behind assaulted her ear drums, and a searing pain overtook her senses as she felt something unbearably hot eat away at the clothing on her back. Despite the sensory overload, she could perfectly make out the face of a young woman with deep red eyes, and a single red and white ribbon decorating the pale blue hair that stretched past her brown shirt and red pants.

"I've gotta say, you must be a pretty strong youkai to be able to stand after taking a fireball up close like that; I killed those other three idiots with only a fraction of what I just hit you with!"

Hong lunged at the woman, only to be pushed back with a single kick to the bullet wound on her chest. She landed on her back, and screamed loudly as the pain had become unbearable; the woman shrugged her shoulders before forming a blade of fire in her hand.

"If it makes you feel any better, I've got nothing against you, You're just another name on the extermination list. Say sayonara, Scarlet Devil filth!"

Before the blade could hit its mark, a hail of bullets riddled the body of her assailant, pinning her to the wall with the force of each blow. After the gunfire ceased, the woman dropped instantly, and began to bleed profusely on the floor.

A man in a flowing red cape and a woman in a blue kimono ran down the corridor and came to a stop in front of her. She couldn't help but flinch away from the man as he approached her.

"Can you stand?"

* * *

It had taken Vincent a moment to notice that the woman in question had passed out.

"Yuyuko, can you take her to the infirmary? It's on the thirty-second floor."

"Make that two. There's somebody else in that elevator. What about you?"

Vincent reloaded his gun, then cocked his head in the direction of the body on the floor.

"It's only a matter of time before our little friend here gets back up. I'm going to make sure that she doesn't get too far."

* * *

Mokou Fujiwara watched with half lidded eyes as the ghost woman dragged the gate guard's body into the elevator before closing the door. Taking this as her queue, she sprung from the floor with a push, and found herself staring at the barrel of an all too familiar gun.

"Tch, You again? I thought I did away with you back in the forest!"

"Much like yourself, I cannot be done away with so easily."

Before he could react, she knocked the gun out of his hand, and drove an elbow into his face that sent him flying through a wall, and into the next room.

A moment passed before a loud roar sounded throughout the entire floor. Emerging from the hole in the wall, was a purple beast with large horns and an orange mane; It's tail swished to and fro as it spoke in a mangled dialect.

"ThE RulEes Of EnGAGEment aRe DifFerEnt ThiS TiMe."

A grin spread on Mokou's face as fire began to spread over her body.

"Feh. Whatever demon! I beat you before, and I can damn well do it again!"

* * *

Author's notes: yeah, I know some of ya'll are ready to kill me for the lack of updates. I've decided to write a couple of stories (Which I've yet to upload…) in this series to help bring things together.

Meiling's story is the furthest on the timeline and is pretty much going to be the one that ties them all together (Hence Mokou's familiarity with Vincent) I finally have a solid idea of how I want this to play out; it's just a matter of writing it in a way that I'm satisfied with. I should have the first chapter of Vincent's story uploaded by sometime next Thursday.

And no, I haven't killed off Elena!


	4. One of Us Now

Be honest, you thought I gave on this didn't you? I'm still shocked that I'm just past 400 hits. The fact that people think this is a story worth reviewing is more than enough to spur me on! Now after a three month long hiatus, we return to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Touhou, Hong Meiling, Final Fantasy 7, or any other characters or franchises mentioned in this story.

* * *

Rufus stared at the bottle of wine that sat on the middle of the table; through the red liquid, he could make out the distorted face of the person whom he had called on short notice to the small restaurant, which they now sat in. Rufus' lips turned upward slightly as he watched Tseng impatiently glance at his watch.

"Sir, I was due to monitor a recruit examination three hours ago. If I may be so bold, what is this all about?"

He reached for the bottle and began to pour himself a glass, making sure to so in an agonizingly slow fashion. Rufus took a small sip before he spoke.

"They can wait, besides Rude is quite capable of handling things himself."

He took another sip before motioning to the bottle.

"You should try it Tseng, Miss Meiling made this herself; the taste is quite exquisite for something made overnight."

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline, I prefer not to drink during my work hours."

Rufus' eyes darkened before relaxing again. Sighing, he finished the rest of the wine in his glass.

"I see. Are you sure you don't want any?"

"Quite."

"Tseng, starting tomorrow, I'm relieving you of your position as head of the Turks."

Rufus watched his face for a reaction; and for a moment there was none.

Then Tseng's eyes slowly began to widen.

"Sir?"

"Reno has already agreed to take your place until I deem you fit to return to your position."

He slowly began to grasp at the sides of his pant legs to stifle the violent tremors of his hands.

"And you believe him to be capable of maintaining the Turks in my absence? We are still down one member, after all."

"The recent losses have taken a toll on you, which is why both of your co-workers came to me with this request."

Rufus reached into his coat pocket and produced a small rectangular sheet of paper;

Placing it on the table between them.

"This is a first class airplane ticket to Costa Del Sol; your flight is due to leave in six hours. After you finish with the examination, I expect you to be on that plane."

Tseng responded in a voice that clearly showed his disdain for the idea; his normally neutral face had begun to scowl.

"Is that an order?"

"Only if it has to be. I'm not doing this because I have to; you've brought this on yourself."

"On myself! You have to be joking!"

Rufus' last sentence would be what broke Tseng's façade of calm as he slammed both hands in a display of anger that, despite his many year of working with him, was an action completely foreign to his nature.

"I've served this company for half my life, and this is how you repay me? "We've lost one our most promising agents, because of your paranoid delusions of Wutainese terrorists! If you're father were still alive…"

His own temper rising, Rufus grabbed the scruff of Tseng's suit and violently yanked him across the table, sending the wine careening over the edge of the table and onto the floor.

"You are never to mention my father in my presence again."

He held eye contact with Tseng to display that this was not something disputable. The rage had all but died in his voice as he replied with the meekness of a dog that had just chewed his master's slippers.

"…Yes sir."

"You do not know why you brought this on yourself? Let me enlighten you. You began an intimate relationship with a coworker, knowing that it was against the rules. You have repeatedly put your other teammates at risk by prioritizing her life over theirs, and furthermore…"

His anger began to fade as he realized Tseng no longer met his gaze. Before he had become president, Rufus Shinra had always known Tseng as a loyal man of both honor and principle; always ready to do anything for the sake of the company, yet never willing to bend any rules. To see him in his current state was nothing short of disheartening.

"Tseng, all I'm asking from you is that you take some time off to re-evaluate your life. I don't know what you and Elena shared, but it was obviously something significant for it to affect you like this."

He didn't reply, but kept his head down; transfixed to a small device on the clip of his belt. Taking it in his hand, Tseng pressed a small button on the side, and a blinking blue light came on.

"Tseng, why was your beacon deactivated? You know every employee is supposed to leave them on at all times."

"I never turned it off."

Tseng's brow furrowed in deep thought, as a spark went off in his mind.

"Rufus where's your beacon?"

"Where do you think it is? It's where I always keep it."

Rufus pulled the beacon out of his pocket, and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yours was off too I presume?"

Silence.

Tseng bent down to pick up the bottle of wine that now lay on the floor. Placing it back on top of the table, he motioned to Rufus to sit down.

"I see. You said Miss Meiling made this batch right?"

"Yes, she started working at Tifa's yesterday."

He reached into the side lining of his coat and let his hand rest on the cool handle of his gun.

"Hey Rufus."

"Hm?"

"We've gotten sloppy, haven't we?"

He watched as Rufus opened his mouth as if to object, only to close it a moment later; for a moment, he followed Tseng's shifting eyes towards a little girl with a green cap and backpack, blue pigtails and a matching dress sitting at a table in the back, watching the two of them with far too much concentration for her not to be suspicious. Two devices that looked similar to their beacons jutted out from two of the many large pockets on her dress.

"I think you might be right; I suppose we'll have to finish this conversation another time."

Without a moment's hesitation, Tseng pulled the gun from his pocket, and fired off two shots into the air, startling the girl and sending the other patrons into a panic. Before she could run away, Rufus grabbed the girl by her backpack; He could only stare at her with a bemused look on his face, as he realized that she was pointing what appeared to be a toy gun right at his heart, with her finger squeezing the trigger. Tseng, stood on the sidelines with his gun ready to fire, should things turn sour.

Rufus spoke; noting the slight tremors coming from the girl's 'weapon'.

"I do not want to hurt you, so why don't you just cooperate with us, and put that toy down?"

He looked straight into her blue eyes, attempting to put her doubts at ease; she stayed silent, and lowered her head in response; the gun in her hand emitting a high pitched whine.

"I don't want to hurt a-a-anybody either! So p-please tell your friend to put his gun down!"

As the noise grew louder, Rufus quickly mulled over the possibility that she might be serious. Deciding not to take a chance with his life, he nodded once to signal Tseng to comply. He slowly lowered the girl back onto the floor, where she began to back away from the two and towards the exit. Rufus began making small gestures with his hand; a secret form of communication used only by himself, and the Turks.

"I'll follow her, you get back to the building and make sure everything's alright."

As soon as the girl backed out the door, Rufus sprinted after her. Dropping the gun in surprise, she began running towards the railing overlooking the newly built Midgar Canal.

"Don't even think about it kid! That drop is too high!"

Without breaking her stride, she jumped over the railing before he could reach her. Rufus stopped to catch his breath; exhausted from the chase and very distraught at the outcome, he glanced over the side of the rail hoping to at least find a body, only to see nothing but the clear water of the canal. Despite being able to see all the way to the bottom, he couldn't make out anything which showed that someone had even jumped in the water, even though he saw her jump with his own eyes.

Turning back towards the main street, he picked up the discarded gun, and hailed a cab. There would be time to ruminate on things later; for now, all he simply wished to do was go back to the office, finish his rounds, and push today's events out of his mind.

Giving it one last thought, Rufus was certain that he hadn't heard a splash.

* * *

It had been a great deal of time since the Galian Beast had last been released from the confines of Vincent's mind, let alone set against an enemy of worth. It remembered the humiliating defeat that it had succumbed to at the hands of the fiery woman once before, and would be loathe to repeat the mistake of underestimating her. The beast let loose a great roar as the object of it's focused anger rushed head first towards it.

This time it would not lose.

* * *

While Mokou knew that she was much faster, she also understood that this beast was far too heavy to knock down with a tackle alone; once she reached striking range, it clasped her forearm with it's claws before she could attack, holding her down by applying pressure. Locking eyes with Moukou, it began to speak in a slurred tongue.

"I'M NOT INTERESTED IN SETTLING OLD SCORES. I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE INTENTIONS ARE."

"Ngh… You seem to have it under control now, but it seems like you've gotten weaker since the last time; have you lost that old 'edge' of yours?"

"I NEVER NEEDED CHAOS TO DEAL WITH YOU."

"That's funny, Didn't you just barely manage to retreat, even when you borrowed his strength? And if I recall right, the time before that, I left your charred body on the steps of the Moriya shrine. How many years ago was that? Did that burn on your hand ever heal up, or do you still hide it under that old gauntlet of yours?"

The beast clamped down even harder, eliciting a groan from Moukou and forcing her down onto one knee. She let loose a string of curses as she heard a snap which indicated that she'd broken her left arm. Despite the intensity of the flames surrounding them, the beast was clearly unaffected by the fire; the adrenaline overpowering any pain that it might have been feeling.

"YOU KNOW YOUR BODY CAN"T HANDLE THIS MUCH STRESS. GIVE UP."

"Rrggh… Are you kidding? We're just getting started!"

Struggling to keep from blacking out again, Mokou forced herself back onto both feet and pulled with all of her might, causing them both to lose their balance and stumble backwards. The beast could only stare at her with a sense of panic, as it realized that they had just crashed through the wall on the last room on this side of the building, sending them both into freefall.

"YOU FOOL; YOU'LL DO US BOTH IN!!"

Mokou gave only a smug grin in response as the speed of their decent increased. Bringing her face in dangerously close to that of her opponent's, she spoke, making sure to yell over the sound of the wind.

"You've have guts Vincent… getting tossed by me once, and actually coming back to try again! You're just _damn_ lucky that Keine is fond of you. I'll spare you for the moment, but if you get in my way again, I promise I'll finish you for good next time!"

"THERE WON'T BE A NEXT TIME!!"

"…Oh _really_ now?"

Taking the beast by the tail with her legs, Mokou stopped the fall, then flipped it in the air with a swing of her legs before grabbing it's tail again, this time with her right hand set ablaze. She tightened her grip and laughed smugly as it's pained howling only grew louder.

"You're a riot! I'll admit this demon; you are strong, and you're definitely resilient…"

She pulled her arm back, aiming towards the building's fifth floor.

"But unlike you, I don't need a cloak to fly!"

* * *

Tifa and Reno let out a collective gasp as a woman with pink hair dressed in strange clothing exited the elevator dragging two bodies by their arms, one badly injured with her clothes tattered and burned, the other one unscathed, but motionless. She stopped in front of the two, inspecting them with wide eyes.

"Let see… blue suit… red hair in a ponytail… funny looking stick… Ah, you must be Reno!"

Tifa looked over at Reno who only shrugged his shoulders in return.

"Hmm… So that must make the one with the large breasts Tifa. I'm Yuyuko Saigyouji."

Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and she unceremoniously folded her arms across her chest, never taking her eyes off the strange woman for a moment. Fifteen seconds of awkward silence later, Reno loses his cool.

"I don't know who you are, and right now I could really care less!"

Brandishing his electro-rod, he advanced towards the woman.

"Reno…"

He retaliated with shout before she could get anything else out.

"Shut it Teef! My friend is missing, my boss in denial, and the president's had his life threatened twice this week! I'm tired of being jerked around and I want some freaking answers!"

As Reno charges towards Yuyuko, Tifa can barely make out the movements of Yuyuko's feet, but as she leans dangerously far back to avoid his strike, she can clearly see her push off of the ground in an unnatural show of agility and grab the offending rod clean out of Reno's hand before performing a complete twist in the air, and landing effortlessly on her feet.

As Tifa blinked a couple of time to register what she just saw, Yuyuko pushed an off balance Reno to the floor with a small tap on his back; pouting lightly while looking over the electro-rod.

"Such a hot head… I am on your side you know… speaking of which I could really use your help right now. These two could really use some medical help... but I just can't figure out how to work that thing!"

Yuyuko motioned towards the elevator with her head and sighed. Reno sucked his teeth as he got up, clearly not used to being out maneuvered, and irritated with her carefree attitude. As he kneeled down to check the bodies, his frown intensified upon recognizing Hong's unconscious face. Using the materia junctioned to his rod, he cast a cure spell in hopes of rousing her back on her feet.

"Tifa, You've got a mastered cure, right? Give me a hand with this."

"Oh, that reminds me! We should probably wait for Vincent."

Reno and Tifa looked at each other, and then at Yuyuko in shock; it had been months since Vincent had effectively disappeared off the face of the planet; and despite the best efforts of the WRO, no one knew where he was, or if he was even still alive.

At the prospect of seeing her old traveling companion and confidant again, Tifa's mood became elated.

"Vincent is here? What has he been doing all this time? Where is he?"

"Tifa, your cure please?"

"Ah, right."

The floor shook violently as what looked like a giant piece of red cloth set on fire, crashed through the wall of the building before skidding to a stop in the middle of the hall.

"Oho? I think that's him now!"

* * *

"You're finally up."

Hong slowly opened her eyes, and grimaced from the glare of the white lighting of the room. Looking to her left, she saw the bald man with the sunglasses from the other day sitting on a chair next to her bed.

"Where am I?"

"Midgar Hospital ICU. Tifa and the others brought you in."

"Oh. How long have I been out?"

"Seventeen hours."

Looking down at herself, she noticed that her dress had been replaced with a small white gown that barely fit properly.

"Um… where are my clothes? This isn't very comfortable."

"Burned. The nurses threw them out."

Hong fell silent as the man finished speaking. Clearly he wasn't comfortable talking with her for some reason.

"Am I that strange to you?"

"Don't be offended. Rude just isn't much of a talker."

On the far side of the room, Tseng stood against the wall with a small shopping bag next to him. Once she adjusted herself so she could see his face, her leg muscles tightened in preparation for a surprise strike. Rude put a firm hand around her arm before she could get up.

"He's the real Tseng; not the man you saw earlier."

She let herself relax again, and Rude removed his hand. Tseng slowly walked up to her, and held out a familiar stack of cards, along with the bag.

"Reno found these cards on your person; I do not know what they are for, nor do I wish to; whether or not they are of value to you is your own business. In this bag you'll find your new uniform."

Taking her spell cards and putting them aside, Hong opened the bag, and looked over the three pairs of navy blue suits, and a matching beret that looked like the one she had lost the day before; on the top was a silver star with the Shinra logo etched into it.

Facing Tseng once again, she began mumbling; unable to believe what was happening.

"Does this mean that…"

Tseng cut her off, sounding as disinterested as one possibly could.

"Make no mistake Miss Meiling; I don't like you. You're a liar who has only managed to make it this far because of the good graces of our President… however; there is no denying that you are one of the most capable recruits that we have seen in a very long time."

"But… I've only taken one exam… you mean that's all I needed to do?"

"Not only that. Rude was watching you on the monitor when the terrorists attacked; I have seen the footage myself as well."

Hong stayed silent as Tseng held her gaze in an attempt to intimidate her; when she didn't budge, he nodded, then walked over to the curtain on the other side of the hospital bed.

"You've already heard most of the Turk rules already, but do you know what the last one is?"

"No sir."

With that, he pulled the curtain back, enabling Hong to see the other person in the bed adjacent of her. A woman with a pale complexion, and chestnut brown shoulder length hair lay asleep, breathing heavily with several intravenous lines connected to each limb.

"The last and most important rule of the Turks is to leave no man behind. Despite the wound you sustained to your chest cavity, you were able to not only drag yourself to safety, but carry Miss Gendou here with you as well."

Thinking to herself, Hong realized that they must not have seen any footage of the events afterwards; Reno, or someone else must have covered for her. Rude looked over at Tseng, and tapped his watch. Nodding, Tseng brought the curtain back to its original position, and headed towards the door.

"There's a limousine outside ready to take you back to Seventh Heaven once you're properly dressed. I will not be here to assign tasks, so seeing that you are our second hand-to-hand specialist, you will work directly underneath Rude. You will do nothing without his consent; any form of insubordination will lead to your disbarment from the Turks. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir."

Once Tseng walked out of the room, Rude stood up and offered Hong a hand off the bed.

"Just so you know, Tseng's been under a lot of pressure lately. He's tough, but a fair man on whole once you get to know him."

After setting her feet on the floor, Hong took the clothes and went behind the curtain to change. Once finished, she looked around the room for a mirror, but was unable to find one. Rude shook his head.

"Relax, you look fine."

Hong turned away from him and to hide the blush on her face. It certainly wasn't everyday that a person complimented her.

"Thank you Sir; I'm curious though, what was in the water that made Miss Abanu react so violently to it?"

"The drink that imposter gave you two was spiked with Malboro poison. People with a low toxin tolerance, like Abanu, are far more susceptible to it than most. The worst is over, and she's expected to pull through. If you didn't help her when you did, she probably would have died."

"I'm just glad I was able to do something to help, Sir."

Rude shook his head again; patting Hong on the shoulder, he smiled at her bewildered expression.

"It's Rude, Hong. Just Rude."

"But isn't that kind of… well… rude?"

"There's no need for any formalities. You're one of us now."

* * *

In the conference room of the Shinra building, a colorless piece of materia surrounded by small black hulk of burnt flesh began to reshape itself into the form of a man. Highly defined body muscles were offset by a light red skin color, and a flat empty space where it's face should be.

Reaching into one of two empty eye sockets, it pulled out the materia, and held it towards the ceiling. The image of a bedroom and a little girl with light blue hair and blood red eyes could be seen reflecting off of its surface. Frowning, the girl yawned, then began to speak, her voice carrying a curt tone of regality despite her tiny stature.

"Vougan, I trust you have a good reason for waking me up at this atrocious hour?"

She squinted for a moment, then arched an eyebrow.

"What happened to your disguise? It took our spies quite some time to retrieve the facial data needed to create it."

"Please forgive me for interrupting you My Lady, but Moukou arrived much earlier than what we had anticipated; she threw the entire operation off course, I'm afraid that only I survived the…"

"Of course you survived, idiot, It's just as I had foreseen. Now, why don't you tell me something of actual importance?"

Vougan inwardly grimaced at her manner of addressing the situation, but knew better than to question the roundabout methods of his creator, as he had seen firsthand what happened to any subordinates that dared to sass the Mistress.

He would be sure to overlook the fact that she had originally predicted a smooth operation with absolutely no interference.

"Before his death, Seth managed to procure a large amount of master materia; we were however, unable to retrieve President Shinra."

"What do you mean 'unable to retrieve President Shinra'? Didn't you plant the trackers like I told you?"

"Someone else jammed the signal before we could make our move

The girl scowled, bearing a sharp set of fangs, before waving her hand in the air and snapping her fingers together. On cue, a woman's voice could be heard off screen.

"You called, Mistress?"

"I want a strong cup of tea. No sugar, and make it quickly!"

"As you wish, Mistress."

A door closed in the background, and the girl returned her attention to Vougan.

"Is that all you have to report?"

"There was also a report of a flux in the Hakurei barrier followed by a bright light over Mount Nibel shortly after."

"So that's how it is then? Hmph, I never expected her to act directly against us; at least not this soon."

"What would you have me do next?"

"Pull everyone out of Midgar for reassignment. We'll just concentrate on our Wutai mining operation for now. It might be in our best interests to wait and see how things play out. Oh, and Vougan…"

"Yes?"

"Have you disposed of the traitor like I asked you to?"

"We've been so busy with the occupation of Wutai that we have not had the time to locate her. I seriously doubt that she has even managed to cross over to Gaia."

Vougan clutched his head, screaming in pain as he felt his very being start to unravel; tiny little cracks could be seen on the piece of materia in his outstretched hand.

The pain relented, and he fell to the ground. The materia rolled in front of his face, where he could see his Mistress staring at him with narrowed eyes, her head propped up on the palms of her hands.

"I really didn't want to do that, but I'm getting very tired of repeating myself Vougan. Locating and eliminating Hong takes priority over everything else. **Understand**?"

"…Yes Lady Scarlet."

"Good. Now leave me be."

"Your tea, Mistress."

Remilia Scarlet closed off the mental link with her pawn, and reached over to grab the tea that had just been placed on the nightstand by her bed; taking a sip, while stewing inwardly about the unexpected interferences that just seem set on ruining her plans. Setting the tea down, she turned towards the newest maid of the household.

"You're still here? What do you want?"

The woman stared at the ground and curled a blonde lock of hair around her finger, afraid of meeting her gaze.

"Forgive me Mistress; I just wanted to make sure that the tea was to your liking."

"It's was adequate. Now leave me be; It's still daylight outside."

"As you wish, Mistress."

As the maid quietly shut the door to her chambers, Remilia sighed, then returned to bed. Despite being able to perform her duties well, Elena was a bit overzealous about her responsibilities at times; often to the point of becoming an annoyance around the mansion. She supposed that she would have to do; at least, until she could bring **her** back.

Slipping a hand underneath the velvet sheets of her bed, she pulled out a jet black piece of materia, and cradled it in her arms.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of there soon. After all, I do have a promise to keep."

* * *

Author's Notes: I decided to do away with Galian's funny speech lettering since it seemed kinda disorienting. I feel more confident with my writing now, so I think I can get the ball rolling from here; course opinions, suggestions, and reviews are more than welcome. Expect a new chapter no later then mid early September.

(Next chap will be slice of life-ish, so it might be a bit shorter than this)


	5. Work Problems and Child Harassing Ghosts

I did say I would work on it, didn't I?

Truth be told, I was really ready to give up on the whole fanfic thing; but I decided against it when I noticed just how many good stories in the Touhou section just started to die out.

Melodramatics aside, I'm happy to say that I'll be continuing this story; hopefully without another Hiatus!

Oh yeah, before anyone says it, I know my past/post tense is all over the place, so if it bothers you; become my beta reader! That way everyone wins!

* * *

In the medical ward of the WRO building, Reeve Tuesti lit a cigarette as he waited for a wounded but conscious Vincent to pull himself out from one the many emergency resuscitation chambers lying against the wall.

"…How long have I been out?"

"Nearly a week. Yuyuko's on surveillance at 7th Heaven right now."

"I see. I should be heading over there as well."

"Not so fast. Are you sure that you're fit to be traveling so soon? Those burns still look pretty raw."

Vincent stepped out of the chamber, looking down and taking note of the mix of both pink and charred skin visible on his bare chest.

"Phoenix fire is far more destructive than any materia spell. A mako tank wouldn't be enough to speed up the recovery, but they should go away with time."

"You would know better than I would; but still, I'm quite surprised that you were roughed up to, uh… such an extent."

The room settled into an awkward silence as Reeve handed him his cloak; an amused expression flashing across his face. If he were still the man that he once was, Vincent imagined that he would have felt a slight sense of indignation behind the gesture.

He decided not to read too deeply into it, as the other man had never dealt with a youkai before, and he knew from experience that a fire manipulating adolescent could only be considered a minor threat when compared to some of Gensokyo's more powerful individuals.

In an attempt to change the subject, he focused his attention on the cigarette between Reeve's lips.

"…You should quit those."

Reeve clicked his teeth and took another long drag from the cigarette in his mouth.

It wasn't a habit that he had been keen on gaining but with the current crisis at hand, one thing led to another and after trying a few drags from a certain captain, they had quickly become his method of choice for maintaining the calm posture that was expected of him.

"I know, I know… by the way, you-know-who just checked in a few hours ago. She wanted to let you know that she took care of everything while you were out."

"You-know-who? As in-"

"Yeah. Her."

"How did she fair?"

"Well at the moment we've got their entire network at our fingertips. I don't know how she did it, but that girl managed to hijack the president's access codes wirelessly. Concerning the attack; Hong, Rude, Reno and Tifa are the only ones who have an idea of what happened yesterday."

"Reeve, has Tifa said-"

Sensing his concern, Reeve quickly cut in.

"Yeah, she told Cloud and the rest of our friends, and as far as they're concerned, it was just a large scale terrorist attack on the Shinra Company and nothing more"

"I still do not think this is wise. They, of all people deserve to know the truth."

"I understand how you feel Vincent, but don't you think we're capable of handling this on our own?"

"No. We barely have enough manpower as it is, and you and I both know what could potentially happen if things are left the way they are."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence; but involving AVALANCHE is the last thing I want to do right now."

"Cloud would want to know about the potential-"

Reeve waved his hand dismissively.

"Yeah, well Cloud has a family now, and I don't want to be responsible for a broken home. You might not agree with it, but I have everyone's best interests at heart Vincent, I really do."

Vincent said nothing in return, not only because he didn't want to drag the argument out, but also because a part of him knew Reeve was correct in his secrecy. Cloud had fought a long, hard battle against an unhealthy guilt complex, and his own personal demons.

They had no right to intrude on the happiness he had worked so hard to find.

"I suppose we are the only ones with nothing to lose."

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that you're bitter."

"Perhaps I am."

Reeve dropped the finished cigarette on the ground and put it out with his foot; an action which caused Vincent to furrow his brows in distaste.

"What? Let the janitors earn their keep. But back to business; I've got a special mission for you. You remember the girl that Mokou was about to roast?"

"You mean Rude's new protégé? What of her?"

Reeve produced a single photograph of Hong standing guard beside a giant mansion gate.

"I don't think it was a coincidence. We found this on one of the spies; it looks like people might be looking for her."

"You think she might be involved with them?"

"I'm not sure, which is why I need you to head back to Gensokyo and talk to your main contact and see what she knows."

Underneath his cloak, Vincent grimaced.

"I can find out what I need to know without any assistance."

"No can do Vince; you know we have no authority over there, so until you get back to top form, I want you doing everything you can to keep all of the odds in our favor."

"Fine."

A sudden bright flash caused Reeve to shield his eyes. When he opened them again, Vincent had already disappeared. Rubbing the corner of his eyebrows, Reeve winced.

"I appreciate the warning…"

* * *

In a small house 2 miles from the summit of Youkai Mountain, Aya Shameimaru listened intently as she jotted down the words of her friend sitting at the far end of her dining table, nibbling away at a small cucumber.

"And then I jumped into the river!"

"Ah, so that Rufus guy was none the wiser, huh? More importantly, nobody saw you cross the gate, right Nitori?"

"Nope! And with all the pictures of the stuff I found, you should have no problem writing your article. We'll expose the truth in no time!"

Smiling, Aya set her journal aside and let her mind float over the facts of Gensokyo's latest incident. Following the incident at the Scarlet Devil Mansion a few months ago, a way to travel to the world outside the border of Gensokyo had been discovered. Soon after, both human and youkai alike had started disappearing, only to reappear days later violently ill, and with no recollection of who they were, or where they had been.

Her smile quickly faded as she noticed a gap in the fabric of Gensokyo forming in an empty space in the living room. Nitori quickly became somber as well, and promptly went into the kitchen to prepare some favors for the visitor. If it was who she anticipated, a couple of rolls would calm him down; as she had discovered from their last spat.

A sound akin to paper being ripped violently, followed by a golden claw and a figure in a tattered cloak emerging from the gap proved her assumption true. His curt bow clearly indicated that this was not a social call.

"Miss Shameimaru; would you mind telling me why your little friend thought it would be a good idea to try and assassinate the President of Shinra?"

"Nitori wasn't trying to kill anyone; she was just gathering intel until they saw her. We didn't know it would get that complicated."

"Your idea of a complication has successfully driven Rufus into hiding; not to mention the media frenzy stirring up about 'Visitors from another world.' We are trying not to make a panic between either of our worlds, and your interference-"

"Investigation." Aya quipped.

"Your 'investigation' has been everything but discreet."

Setting her journal and pen on the table, Aya stood up and stretched, her casual yawn awkwardly breaking the tension.

"Me? Indiscreet? I don't think you know what you're talking about; but really, it would be a lot easier for everybody if you just told me what you know, that way we could keep from stepping on each others' toes."

"This is not a negotiation; you've already proven that you are far too impulsive to trust with anything regarding the current situation."

"Well, if you don't plan on cooperating with me, then you should have no objections to me launching my own formal investigation, right? Then again… that _would_ require me to withhold any information I find; for the sake of professional journalism of course."

Vincent groaned; realizing that Aya would remain adamant on launching her investigation. Getting angry now would only harm any future relations with one of the few information sources available to them.

"Would you like a drink? Nitori's in the kitchen whipping something up, so why don't you make yourself comfortable?"

"I prefer to stand."

"It's your choice. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you didn't come all this way just to give me a lecture; so what do you really want?"

Vincent handed her the picture of Hong by the gate.

"This woman was recently hired by the Shinra company; we have reason to believe that she may have ties to a terrorist group."

He watched Aya inspect the photograph intently; looking for any sign on her face that would indicate that she might know something.

She shook her head, then handed the picture back to Vincent.

"The face doesn't ring a bell, but the gate in the background is the SDM without a doubt."

"SDM?"

Aya stared at him in bewilderment before giving him a playful swat on his forehead that had been to fast for him to dodge.

"Are you serious? SDM; it stands for Scarlet Devil Mansion. How long can you live in Gensokyo and not know that?"

Vincent growled loudly; his patience reaching its limit.

"I don't. Now unless you have something useful to tell me, I will be on my way."

"Well if I had to give you my opinion, your best bet would probably be to ask someone who lives there. The SDM is a day long from here on foot, so you might want to head to the human village for supplies and see if you can find someone willing to give you a lift."

"That won't be necessary."

Vincent attempted to create a gap, but only managed to make a small hole incapable of sustaining itself. Letting nothing give away his embarrassment, Vincent strode towards the front door, opening and then closing it without the slightest sound.

Aya called out, loud enough for her voice to carry.

"If you don't know the way off the mountain, ask another Tengu to show you the way down!"

If Vincent heard, he gave no sign. A few moments later, Nitori walked back into the room carrying a tray of homemade bread.

"Oh… he left already."

"I'm actually surprised he's moving about in that condition. You noticed it too right?"

Nitori nodded, and picked up one of the smaller loafs. She quickly dropped it, realizing that it was still too hot to eat.

"Ow! Anyway, I overheard the conversation; why did you lie to him Aya? You know what's going to happen to him if he shows up at their front door asking about her."

"I may be a journalist, but I'm not that heartless. Did you really expect me to just sell her out? Besides, No one will open the door, hardly anyone leaves that place now…"

"But… what if he does find something?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose in slight frustration, Aya sighed.

"Ayayayaya… Now you're making me worried too!"

* * *

The sun had just finished rising past the midway point in the sky, announcing both the arrival of noon, and the first lunch break for all Shinra personnel. In the staff cafeteria, a fully recovered Abanu made her way towards the table where her fellow Turks sat. While Reno and Rude were both silently eating, the least lively of the three appeared to be sleeping using her blue beret serving as a makeshift pillow. After spotting the person she wanted to speak to, she pulled up a seat and leaned forward to prod her elbow.

"Excuse me… Hong, right?"

"Mmfh…"

Hong lifted her head up, and then promptly set it back down; falling back to sleep.

Rude, who sat beside his partner, simply cleared his throat; in response, Hong's slumped over form suddenly shot upright; earning a short chuckle from Reno.

"I wasn't sleeping! Honest!"

Rude clicked his teeth, and glanced at his watch.

"This is the third time this week you've dozed off at lunch. It's like clockwork…"

Reno waggled his finger and tsked.

"Geez… you really need to learn better sleeping habits."

"Says the man who fell asleep on a zip line during his first training exercise."

"Eh? You actually remembered that? Wait yo, this isn't about me!"

While the two began to bicker between themselves, Hong scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Heh. Sorry about that. I'm just used to sleeping in. Sort of."

"That's alright. I heard about what happened the other day, and I thought it would be pretty rude of me if didn't say thank you."

Hong smiled then answered modestly.

"It was nothing. I mean, what kind of partner would I be if I had left you there?"

She then waved her hand dismissively, and placed the beret back on her head with the other hand. Craning her neck to the side for a moment, she removed herself from her seat and began walking out of the lunch room.

"Rude, I'm going to head back to my post."

"Alright."

Abanu's eyes followed Hong as she left the room. Turning around, she noticed Reno doing the same.

"She's heading back already? There's still like twenty minutes left till we clock back in. Hey, did she even eat anything?"

Abanu laughed uneasily.

"Maybe she just has a strong work ethic, and doesn't like to eat on the job."

"Do I need to file a complaint about gossiping coworkers again?"

Reno smirked and wrapped an arm around Rude's shoulder.

"Come on Rude; don't act like you aren't the least bit intimidated. You see how well she's been handling the Footbreaker."

"The Footbreaker?"

Rude grumbled, then turned his attention towards a very curious Abanu, though as he began to speak, Reno interrupted him.

"Dude you've been way too vocal this week. I got this. Anyway, the Footbreaker is a prank that every Turk goes through during the first week on the job. You were exempt from this for obvious reasons of course. Everybody working in the executive office bets half of their paychecks on the newbie's odds of surviving the Footbreaker."

"But, what exactly is the Footbreaker?"

"The longest, boringest, most grueling, shift you could ever have the misfortune of getting assigned to…"

Abanu leaned in, afraid, but captivated and very curious of the terror about to come out of Reno's mouth.

"Door guard duty."

* * *

When the end of the day finally arrived, Hong turned down Reno's offer to go out on the town with Rude and Abanu, and decided on taking a slow walk home.

Despite it being an uneventful shift, she was very eager to turn her thoughts away from the voices of some of the other employees she had overheard throughout the day.

"Hey man, who's the new face on Footbreaker duty? Shouldn't she be upstairs in the secretaries' office?"

"Hey, don't let her hear you say that! I heard that she's the new Turk they just hired to replace old blondie."

"Wait a sec… holy crap! You mean Tseng actually hired that nutcase?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Man, you should have seen her resume! It might still be on one of the office computers. Let's go pull it up real quick before break ends."

"Is it really that funny?"

"Trust me, you are gonna have a riot; this chick really thinks she's a monster!"

7th Heaven had been long closed for the night by the time she walked in. Something that Hong preferred. While most of the patrons were polite and well mannered, the bar would still be too loud for her personal taste.

Pouring herself a small glass of beer from the spigot, Hong sat down on a stool and sighed.

"Maybe leaving was a bad idea after all…"

"Oho? Having second thoughts about human living already China?"

Following the comment, Hong slammed an open palm on the banister, forcing a pink haired ghost out of her hiding spot behind the counter, who immediately put her hands up in mock defense.

"Sorry, sorry! Old habits die hard, so please don't hit me!"

"Why bother? My fist would just go through your face anyway."

"Oh right, Eheheh… I forgot about that."

Hong stayed silent and continued drinking. While she would admit to owing Yuyuko her life, it wouldn't be enough to change her wariness of her, or her personal (albeit less-then-stellar) opinion of the ghostly woman's character; said opinion being that despite her intelligence and uncanny perceptiveness, she was still one of the most irritating people that she had known during her life in Gensokyo.

In short; If Yuyuko is bugging someone nonstop, then it goes without saying that there's an ulterior motive behind her actions.

"So what's on your mind Hong?"

"I'll give you the same answer I gave you yesterday: none of your business."

"Oh you. I swear, I don't ever recall you being so forthright back when you were working at Remilia's. Perhaps it was the drink that loosened you up?"

"My boss thinks I'm a liar, no one the job respects me, and I have a ghost harassing me on my down time. Yuyuko, I just want to drink in peace. Can't we do this some other time?"

"It's certainly no fun just hiding around here all day, I need to flap my gums! Loosen my tongue! Sharpen my… hey, you want to grab something to eat? I just got really hungry all of a sudden."

"I'm going to sleep. If you need a playmate, go bother your servant."

With that, Hong walked upstairs and shut the door to her room. Yuyuko remained frozen in the same position until she, slumped into one of the chairs, closed her eyes and moaned childishly.

"I would if I knew where she was! wauughh!"

When she opened her eyes again, a young boy and girl were standing in front of her; mouths agape.

"I'm so bored… and look! There's human kids right there! All I just want is to talk for a bit and I can't even do that! Look at their eyes, it's almost like they can see… me?"

For a moment, nothing was said between either party; at least until she decided to indulge a fantasy she had occasionally wondered about.

She then waved her in front of her slowly, and rose up from out of the seat.

"This is the part where I say "Boo." Right?"

As if on cue, both children screamed and ran up the stairs. Commotion followed shortly afterwards.

"Tifaaaaaa! Clouuud! There's a ghost downstairs! Me and Marlene saw it!"

Two distinct groans and the shifting of bedsprings signaled that the occupants of the bed were both awakened by the two.

"Go back to bed Tifa, I got this… What did I tell you two about sneaking downstairs to watch scary movies?"

"We weren't watching anything this time! There's really a ghost lady downstairs!"

"Denzel, are you trying to scare Marlene again?"

"B-b-but I saw her too!"

"That's it. Go to bed now, and maybe I won't take away TV privileges."

As the children went to bed Yuyuko rested her face on her chin in a thinking position.

"Oh yeah. I forgot kids are super sensitive to things like me. Ohhh that means I just found a new pastime!"

A mischievous grin set upon her face as she floated up towards the children's room.

"Uhfufufufu... spy mission or not, I'm going have a little fun…"

* * *

Okay, that's it for the moment! If you have any pointers, please let me know.

Oh, and a quick question! should I leave this Fanfic here, or put it in the crossover section?

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming chapter in this series: A Witch on Mount Nibelheim!


End file.
